WhereIsAtlas · Crime

D.B. Cooper

The hijacker who parachuted into history with $200,000 — and vanished — the only unsolved airline hijacking in US history

Unknown — On 24 November 1971, a man using the alias D.B. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight, demanded $200,000 and four parachutes, then jumped from the plane over the Pacific Northwest. He was never seen again — the only unsolved airline hijacking in US history.

On 24 November 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper — later popularized as D.B. Cooper — boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines flight from Portland to Seattle. He claimed to have a bomb, demanded $200,000 in ransom and four parachutes, and held the passengers and crew hostage.

After releasing the passengers in Seattle and collecting the money, he boarded the plane again and, over the Pacific Northwest, parachuted out of the aircraft into the dark night. He was never seen again.

Cooper's identity remains unknown, and he has never been caught. In 1980, a small amount of the ransom money was found along the Columbia River, but Cooper himself vanished into thin air. The hijacking is the only one in American history that was never solved, and it has spawned an enormous body of lore, books and documentaries.

Quick facts

Date
November 24, 1971
Alias
"Dan Cooper" (D.B. Cooper)
Aircraft
Boeing 727 (Northwest Orient)
The crime
Hijacking + ransom ($200,000)
The escape
Parachuted out over the Pacific Northwest
Ransom found
Some recovered on the Columbia River, 1980
Status
Identity unknown; never caught

Sources

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